


We speak in whispers; this one comes, and this one goes.

by IrisofParadise



Series: Harry Potter inspired AU [1]
Category: Black Widow (Comics), Marvel
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, Hogwarts AU, Koldovstoretz (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:41:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26331322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrisofParadise/pseuds/IrisofParadise
Summary: After the death of their parents, Natalia and her younger brother Alexei must move in with their Uncle Ivan and cousin Dariya. But life is never simple and suddenly there are changes in their lives they hadn't thought they would face.Or, the (eventual widowwives) Hogwarts esque au that no one asked for.
Series: Harry Potter inspired AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1913377
Kudos: 5





	We speak in whispers; this one comes, and this one goes.

**Author's Note:**

> \- So I always use the name Dariya as the more Russian name for Dottie and I love the idea of her being Natasha and Alex's cousin. Let's face it, she would so be a metamorphmagus.  
> \- Alex is from the book Forever Red by Margaret Stohl.  
> \- I just feel like Anya would not be that great at magic and you cannot tell me that Dottie would not bully the hell out of her.  
> \- This is probably gonna be just a few chapters and be part one of the series because I actually also want to add some other stuff to this series involving characters in other schools and what not.  
> \- Aleksey Dvorets is actually a real palace I just imagine it a bit smaller, obviously hidden from muggle view, and since Natasha and Alexei's last name is Romanov, I like the idea of them being related to the Romanovs. Hence why Alexei would be named Alexei. And the reason Ivan lives in Aleksey Dvorets and not Natasha's dad is because plot reasons. Idk.  
> \- Domovoi are Slavic house spirits (kind of sort of but not exactly like the house elves in Harry Potter). While barabashka are angry domovoi who become like a poltergeist and steal and throw things.

Eight year old Natasha wasn’t really all that accustomed to extravagance of wealth, something her uncle seemingly had no problems with showing off. Her parents, though plenty rich, had lived simply, preferring their small wooden home in Volgograd while Uncle Ivan preferred the wooden built palace, commonly known amongst the family as Aleksey Dvorets, in Moscow. 

Aleksey Dvoretz was just too big and did not under any circumstances feel like a home in Natasha’s opinion. She’d never really liked even just visiting because of how large it was. She always found herself getting lost in the maze of corridors, wandering into the wrong room since this was an easy feat to accomplish as there were two hundred and fifty rooms. Little Alyoshka loved the palace but Alyoshka was three and Natasha wondered if he fully understood why they were now living with their uncle.

Nastya and Alian Romanov were masters of their trade, potions making. And it was their passion for potions that ended in their untimely demise. 

So wrong it was that the day had started out so lovely. A rare bright blue sky, Uncle Ivan and cousin Dariya visiting for the weekend. Natasha and Alyoshka had been playing outside with Dariya while Uncle Ivan watched them when suddenly a terrible explosion had disrupted the laughter of the children. 

Ivan had quickly scooped Alyoshka into his arms and backed away from the house with the girls behind him. His eyes had been wide and he could only breathe out, “No, Nastya.”

Natasha stared at her house in shock for just a few moments before screaming, “Mama! Papa!” She had tried to run to her burning house but her uncle had grabbed her by the arm and not let her go, holding her tightly.

It took what felt like an eternity to get the fire under control and by that time Natasha and Alyoshka had lost everything; their home, their parents, their belongings, everything but each other really; and they were placed in their uncle’s care. And so they moved to Moscow.

It had been three days since the accident and as had become her new normal, Natasha found herself unable to sleep. Unlike the past three nights though, this time she slid from the too large and too soft bed to explore Aleksey Dvorets.

The library was large but Natasha didn’t care to go in and look at the books, not when she could do that during the day just fine. So she quietly shut the door and continued down the corridor, ignoring the soft noises from within the walls, no doubt being caused by the barabashka living within them. Another guest room. A study. A hall closet. Bathroom. Another study.

She chose to go in this one. She felt drawn in a way.

The walls were a deep emerald green colour with bright gold around the large open windows. A large wooden desk with a chair behind it and two in front of it. The softest carpet covering most of the wooden floor.

She walked quietly over to the desk and frowned as she saw a picture of her father and mother. They were grinning brightly, Alian hugging Nastya from behind and burying his face into her brunette curls before looking back at the camera happily. When Alian would bury his face into her hair, Nastya would close her eyes happily and lean further back into him, opening them and grinning at the camera when he would.

“What are you doing in here?” A very familiar voice asked, scaring Natasha where she nearly dropped the picture frame of her parents. She looked around, clutching the frame to her chest.

“Where are you?” She asked quietly. 

“Over here!” The voice said sharply. Natasha turned and saw a large portrait of a man who looked very similar to her father. She’d seen his picture many a time at her old home in Volgograd but he had never looked as grand as he did in this portrait. 

“Silly girl! Wandering around at the oddest of hours at night! Some of us are trying to sleep, you know?” He stated more than asked. He was glaring rather coldly and Natasha could only blink at him. She hadn’t seen him in two years since his passing and seeing him looking so much younger was rather jarring for the girl. This didn’t seem to make him any happier and he scowled at her. “Who are you and why are you sneaking around Aleksey Dvorets, girl?” 

Natasha stood straight, hoping to make herself seem taller and more important that she actually felt before stating in a clear voice, “Natalia Alianovna Romanova.”

The redhaired man’s eyes widened and he lost all annoyance as he looked at her. “ _ You _ are little Natashenka?” 

Natasha nodded, a small blush painting her cheeks. “Just Natasha is fine, dedushka.” 

Nikolai Romanov laughed loudly from within his portrait and shook his head. “Oh, little Natashenka! You have grown so much! And look at you! You look so much like your mother!” He looked her over before shaking his head once again. “You must be acting very naughty to explore Aleksey Dvorets so late,” he stated in amusement as he shook his finger at her. “Now, girl, where is your father? Alian usually comes to speak with me upon arriving but I was not even aware that you were visiting!”

He frowned as he saw Natasha duck her head down. Natasha touched the picture of her parents, tracing the curves of the intricate frame. 

“Mama and Papa aren’t here with Alyoshka and I.”

Nikolai frowns for a moment. He wonders if perhaps his son and daughter in law have just allowed Ivan to watch the children so they could have some time alone but just looking at his granddaughter and Nikolai knows that is not the case, no matter how he wishes it were. He grows incredibly solemn for a portrait. “I see.” 

They are silent for several minutes until Ivan pushes the study door open the rest of the way. “Natasha?” He asks. “What are you doing in here?” 

Natasha looks up at her uncle and says simply, “I couldn’t sleep.” 

Ivan frowns but nods in understanding. “Come on, you need your rest.” He holds his hand out to her and notices the picture still clutched tightly in her hands. He smiles sadly as he gestures for her to hand it to him.

It breaks his heart when her bottom lip quivers as she does so. 

“I took this picture,” he explains, looking at the smiling face of his sister and brother in law. “They had just found out they were going to be expecting you.” Then he sighed deeply and handed the picture back to his niece. “Here, you keep it.”

She took the picture back then slowly took his hand. “Goodnight, Dedushka,” she said to the portrait on the wall.

Nkolai smiled at her. “Goodnight, Natashenka.” 

And Ivan led her from the study back to her room.

“Why is there a portrait of Dedushka here?” Natasha asked quietly.

“Aleksey Dvorets belonged to the Romanov family,” Ivan explained just as quietly. “When you were just a little baby your parents were not very fond of living here. It’s very big, too many rooms.” 

Natasha nodded in understanding. So he continued.

“The Romanovs had lived here for a very long time, many generations. It wasn’t always so quiet, or so I was told. But Alian’s parents had no living family, and his mother passed soon before you were born, and Alian had no siblings or cousins. Mine and Nastya's parents are gone now so we are all each other has-- had left. So your parents felt it wasn’t right to raise a family here. Alian offered to allow me to live here and I accepted with your grandfather’s permission. So your parents had their house built in Volgograd.” 

They slipped into silence as Ivan finished his story.

Natasha wondered if her parents would be alive if they had stayed in Aleksey Dvorets with her grandfather and uncle.

* * *

Come morning Natasha was the last to wake up and head to the dining room for breakfast. One of the domovoi living in the palace hummed a happy tune as he made breakfast while Dariya sat at the table turning her hair different colours while Alyoshka giggled. 

“Blue!” He said happily.

Dariya grinned and turned her hair a bright blue color. Then a soft pastel blue. Then a sky blue.

“Green!”

She complied eagerly. Her hair went to pastel green. Forest green. 

Ivan allowed their game for a few moments longer but the moment that breakfast was placed on the table he stated, “Alright, that’s enough, Dasha.”

She huffed softly but stopped turning her hair different colours, allowing it to set to a pale blonde. Dariya leaned her cheek into her palm, elbow on the table, as she pouted. Then she grinned widely as she saw her other cousin enter the dining room.

“Good morning, Natasha,” she practically sang, hair turning the same shade of red as Natasha's hair, which made Alexei giggle softly.

Natasha smiled and sat down beside her brother.

The domovoi set two large plates down on the center of the table, one full of toast and sliced sausage and the other plate full of scrambled eggs.

“Thank you,” Dariya said in a caring and kind tone that surprised Natalia. 

Natalia recalled Dariya as often sounding aloof and as someone who rarely took things seriously. Mostly to annoy her father as Dariya and Ivan didn’t often get along. So it was odd to hear her cousin sound so serious and caring as she thanked the household spirit. It made Natalia wonder if the household spirit was more of a friend to Dariya than a servant. Natalia wondered if the domovoi did more of the parenting over Dariya than Ivan did.

Judging by the way that the domovoi smiled warmly at the girl, Natalia felt as though her thoughts were confirmed. 

Ivan either ignored his daughter or just didn’t notice the familial relationship between his daughter and the household spirit. Natalia wondered just how badly the relationship between her uncle and cousin had gotten as the two had never really gotten along. 

Natalia waited until Ivan began to make his plate first before picking up her brother’s and scooping a good helping of scrambled eggs, a slice of toast, and sliced sausage onto his plate. She quickly made her own plate and the family of four ate in silence. 

They ate in silence for a solid three minutes and twenty seven seconds. Then Ivan cleared his throat.

“I’m going to get you three a tutor,” Ivan stated simply. This was clearly not a topic up for discussion. He looked at his daughter then to his niece. “You two will be getting your admission letters to Koldovstvoretz soon and I will not allow you two to be behind on any type of studies. Natasha, you and Alyosha especially have a high standard to live up to; you’re Romanovs. And as such you must excel, do you understand?”

Natasha was careful to keep her face blank as she nodded, though in truth, she didn’t really fully understand. She knew that her father had much money. Knew that her family held a high standing in their world. She just didn’t know why. Alian and Nastya Romanov had never explained to their children their family history.

Now, Natasha wondered why this was so and felt that she should look into her own family tree.

Meanwhile, across the table Dariya made a face and poked at her eggs with her fork, hair slowly turning a dull brown. She didn’t want a tutor. She didn’t care about how it would reflect on her father if she were a bad student. She hated the standards he held and had always envied her cousin’s happiness at growing up with parents who were not Ivan Bezhukov.

And even though she knew it would be a fruitless thing to say, Dariya still stated dryly, “I don’t want a tutor.”

Ivan just raised an eyebrow at her, clearly irritated because his daughter enjoyed purposefully pushing him to the edge. “Do you really think that that argument is ever going to work?”

Dariya smirked slightly, hair turning honey blonde and eyes a bright crystalline blue. “Perhaps.”

“No.” Ivan told her dryly.

By the end of the week life for Natalia had once more changed as they had a live in tutor, Madame Bobrovskaya. 

She was a stern looking woman who kept her shoulder length blonde hair that most days she kept pulled in a tight bun and had piercing blue eyes and she seemed to always know what the children were up to, oftentimes catching Dariya right before she could cause mischief. She became their primary custodian, giving them lessons and teaching them magical history; she effectively began homeschooling the children. 

Even young three year old Alexei was not free from this school work. She began teaching him how to read and write and once he learned the basics, she had him reading to her out loud for at least an hour every single day. 

None of the three children liked her. Dariya outright hated the woman and was vocal about her feelings regarding Madame Bobrovskaya to her cousin. Natasha found herself getting rather close to that feeling as well. 

With Madame Bobrovskaya came her daughter, little reclusive Anna Bobrovskaya.

Anna was very quiet and if Natalia were being honest, the tiny girl reminded her of a mouse with her timid and jumpy behavior even though the girl was the same age as herself and Dariya. She didn’t seem to possess any magical abilities making her stand out in a very different way than the other residents of the wooden palace. 

Alexei seemed to be more in tune with his magic than Anna, his first act of magic coming out after Dariya and Natalia had both made faces at him, giggling as they did so, and he’d laughed so hard at the dinner table that he’d made all of the dishes on the wooden table begin floating. 

Ivan had stared in shock at his floating goblet for all of three seconds before clapping slowly. 

Madame Bobrovskaya adored her daughter and didn’t push her nearly as hard as she pushed Natalia and Dariya. Though it was clear to all of the children, even little three year old Alexei, that Natalia was her favorite student by far. Something which Natalia felt slight resentment about as she did not care for favoritism. She cared for Anna trailing after her like a lost puppy with a look on her face as though she’d been kicked even less.

Childishly, Dariya took many of her frustrations out on Anna.

And since Anna had no magical abilities of her own she was a very easy target for the metamorphmagus girl. 

Of course, Dariya had been caught tormenting the brunette on more than one occasion. She just didn’t care. Even after Madame Bobrovskaya had made her write  _ I will not bully others _ one thousand times as well as memorize a complete chapter from their  _ The History of Magic in Russia vol. 1 _ book. Or after she’d been forced to re-write by hand the first two chapters of  _ The Beginning of Koldovstvoretz _ .

Natalia sat on her cousin’s bed, watching as Dariya copied word for word out of the very thick text.

“At this rate you’re going to have every text book memorized by the time we go to school, Dasha,” Natalia stated as though she were talking about the weather.

Dariya shrugged. “Probably.” She set her quill down and rubbed her wrist, rotating it slowly and popping her fingers. She’d been writing for an hour straight and all because she’d set loose one little barabashka into Anna’s room that morning before breakfast. 

The little creature had stolen one sock from every single pair of Anna’s socks, clearly gotten upset over something and knocked over the candelabra on Anna’s own desk, and stolen one of Anna’s shoes. Now the barabashka was back to hiding in the walls and refused to give up Anna’s shoe.

Dariya turned to give her cousin a mischievous smirk. “But did you see the look on Anna’s face when the barabashka threw her books out the window? Oh it was so worth the punishment!” She nodded, hair turning a bright bubblegum pink before fading to a pale blue, 

Natalia rolled her eyes but even she couldn’t hide her amusement. Anna had been close to tears as the barabashka tore through her room. She almost felt bad for being amused at Anna’s misfortune but the other girl tended to trail after her and pester Natalia constantly. It was kind of annoying.

Just then there was a knock on the door. Thinking it was her father, Dariya called out in a bored tone, “Yes?”

She quickly scowled upon seeing Anna’s big brown eyes and disheveled hair. “Oh, what do  _ you  _ want?”

Anna flinched as though Dariya had thrown a book at her but didn’t scamper off as the other two girls clearly expected for her to. Dariya was loathe to admit it but she found it admirable that Anna held her ground. 

“Would either of you like to go play with me? It’s begun to snow.”

Natalia glanced out the window near where her cousin sat and wrinkled her nose. “No thank you,” she said, gently turning the shy girl down. “I hate the cold.”

Anna frowned, disappointment making her shoulders droop rather pathetically. It almost made Natalia feel guilty. But only almost.

Dariya on the other hand rolled her eyes. “I would absolutely love to,” she drawled out. She didn’t miss how both Anna and Natalia stared at her in surprise, Anna with wide eyes and her cousin with one elegantly arched eyebrow. “But, alas, I cannot. I have to copy this book,” she said dryly and pointed at the thick book on her desk.

Now Anna frowned. Then slammed the door shut.

Dariya rolled her eyes once more then picked her quill back up, ignoring her cousin's huffed out, "That was mean, Dasha."

This type of behavior went on for several months and became the norm for the residents of Aleksey Dvorets.

When she couldn’t sleep Natalia would often sneak into her uncle’s study and talk with her grandfather’s portrait. Other nights she would sit in bed, ignoring how it was just too soft, and whispered to the picture of her parents that her uncle had given to her. Some nights while she was heading to her uncle’s study she’d heard Alexei whimpering from his bedroom and upon slipping in, she had found the toddler crying in his sleep.

Natalia would slip into the bed with her brother and hold the boy tightly.

* * *

**_A year later…  
_ ** Time continued to pass. Birthdays were celebrated. In fact, it was on Anya’s ninth birthday that the brunette experienced her first wave of magic coursing through her.

Dariya had snuck into the other girl’s bedroom while Anya still slept and with a blink, she lit three enchanted firecrackers. One morphed into a fire-breathing dragon which began to breathe fire out and singed Anya’s curtains before whizzing out. The other two just sparked and shot out silver stars across the room. 

Dariya giggled as Anya screeched. And once the excitement was over, Dariya opened the bedroom door to take in the damage she’d caused to the other girl only to be blown back by an invisible force. She let out a groan as her back slammed into the wall and she lost her balance and fell to her bottom. 

She stared, dazed and wide eyed, straight ahead. Her eyes met Anya’s, her eyes were just as wide and surprised.

“You…” Dariya breathed out. Then she grinned and stood. “Witch!” She ran into Anya’s bedroom and launched herself onto Anya’s bed, giggling as she smacked the brunette with her own pillow. “You’re a witch! You’re a  _ witch _ , Anya!”

Anya was baffled for a few moments and unsure how to react, which in fairness was a completely valid reaction towards Dariya’s emotional rollercoaster. But finally she began to giggle and picked up her other pillow and smacked Dariya back. 

The two girls were so busy giggling that neither noticed when Ivan came to the door. “What on earth is going on here?!” He demanded, hair a disheveled mess showing that he had clearly just woken up. He looked aggravated the more he looked around the bedroom. There were burn marks and the smell of burnt fabric and feathers from the pillows littered the floor. At least two domovoi were going to grow irritated enough to become barabashka

For once, Anya did not look ashamed for being in trouble. Rather, she stared at him with a wide grin, though slightly sheepishly, and giggled just like Dariya.

“I’m a witch!” The thin child yelled out. “I did magic!”

Dariya nodded in agreement. “It was amazing!”

Before Ivan could ask what they were talking about, Madame Bobrovskaya was storming up to them in a huff, concern radiating from her. She had no doubts that once more Dariya was bullying her daughter. But before the stern woman could do more than take a deep breath and open her mouth, Anya was running to her in a hurry and yelling, “Mama! Mamochka! I did magic! I’m a witch! I’m going to Koldovstvoretz!”

Dariya ran after Anya and laughed. “She threw me into the wall!” She waved her arms around excitedly. “With magic! She’s not a squib after all!” Dariya paused for a moment as she thought of something. Then a wicked smirk was making its way across her face. “This means that I can prank you even more!”

“Dasha!” Ivan snapped as he made to grab his daughter. But Dariya moved swiftly out of his reach and just giggled.

Anya’s grin faltered slightly. She stuck her nose up in the air and narrowed her eyes at the other girl. “Hmph. Well, now that  _ I  _ can do magic too!  _ I  _ can prank  _ you  _ back!”

Ivan sighed while Madame Bobrovskaya quickly hid her smirk of pride by pressing a swift kiss to the top of her daughter’s head.

Dariya hummed but didn’t lose her grin even as she shrugged. “Maybe,” she sang out before she was running down the halls, ignoring as her father yelled exasperatedly after her.

With Anya now participating in magic lessons, the pranks that Dariya would pull became even more often but now Anya was not nearly as afraid as she once had been. She now tossed back jinxes and hexes with the same ferocity that Dariya dished to her.

Natalia found herself rather annoyed with her cousin and their live-in friend. And due to the fact that Natalia was the only one who took lessons from Madame Bobrovskaya seriously, she continued to be the strict woman’s favorite student. 

The only thing that Natalia could not force herself to do, was potions. She felt thrown back every single time she attempted. She would find herself suddenly with her parents, helping them and going over ingredients. The smell of the fire under the cauldron would make her hyperventilate and more than once it had made Alexei cry in confusion while Dariya quickly ran off to fetch her father.

Ivan had to hold Natalia, rock her and tell her to just breathe, and later that night he would hear her inside his study talking to her grandfather’s portrait. 

The new year came and passed and with it, as did Natalia’s birthday. 

For her tenth birthday Ivan gifted Natalia with a small bolonka puppy with curly brown fur. She named the little thing Borris and then rolled her eyes fondly as her brother picked up the puppy and claimed proudly, “No! His name is Bratik!” 

Dariya snickered as her cousins broke out into one of their rare sibling arguments.

“No. His name is Borris.” Natalia huffed, arms crossing. She knew that she would cave to her brother’s wants, no matter how hard she wished she wouldn’t.

Alexei rolled his eyes and pressed his face onto the puppy’s head. “Bratik!”

Natalia sighed and the two continued their bickering, even as they were ushered outside by both their uncle and Madame Bobrovskaya. During the enchanted snowball fight that ensued, Natalia found herself outnumbered but not outmatched as her cousin teamed up with Alexei and Anya followed suit.

“Name him Bratik!” Dariya yelled, waving her hand. Natalia hid behind a tree as five snowballs chased after her.

She rolled her eyes but yelled, “Fine! Fine, the dog’s name is Bratik! Are you all happy now?!” Even as she gave in to the demands she balled a handful of snow into a ball shape and began whispering a spell that she’d read. As the other three children cheered at her defeat, Natalia smirked and threw the snowball into the air and watched as it flew towards the trio and multiplied into twenty snowballs.

As they began shrieking and trying to run for cover, Bratik yapped and ran after them, hopping occasionally in an attempt to bite one of the many enchanted snowballs. 

Months later, during breakfast, a large owl landed outside the window much to the excitement of the children at the table.

That is, until Madame Bobrovskaya opened the window and the two foot tall owl flew in and landed quite happily right in Anya’s breakfast. Attached to one leg was three letters, each sealed with wax that held the crest for the palace of witchcraft, Koldovstvoretz. Ivan walked over to the owl and easily took the letters from its leg, ignoring as the children yelled in surprise.

While he handed one letter to Madame Bobrovskaya, Alexei stood in his chair and held out one of his sausages for the giant bird. The boy yelped when the owl snatched the proffered food from him and nearly bit the tips of Alexei’s fingers right off and Natalia quickly yanked him to sit right back down in his chair.

Dariya jerked back as the owl then turned to her, head tilting to the left, eyes big and bright and wide. Then it leaned forward and snatched her sausage from her plate and devoured it as well. While the owl was eating Dariya’s food, much to her annoyance, Anya slowly slid from her chair in an attempt to get away from the animal and Natalia subtly slid her plate from the table to her lap so that the owl wouldn’t begin to devour her breakfast as well. 

Dariya huffed and her hair turned a deep red, face flushing to match, as she watched the owl move from one portion of her breakfast to the next. And though the owl didn’t eat her fruit, it did mess up her whole meal.

After the owl deemed its job well done, it spread its wings, effectively knocking over Anya’s and Natalia’s cups of hot tea and Alexei’s plate to the floor, and let out a loud screech. 

Madame Bobrovskaya waved the giant bird towards the window and huffed in mild annoyance when the bird took off, leaving them with its mess. “Someone should make a formal complaint to the school about their owls having no manners,” she huffed, waving her wand and cleaning the mess easily.

Dariya pouted as she watched what was left of her breakfast get vanished and her plate floated towards the sink. “I’m still hungry,” she mumbled. 

Natalia discreetly tore her toast in half and shoved half of it into her mouth while Anya muttered under her breath, “Stupid bird…” and watched forlornly as her plate joined Dariya’s in the sink. 

Ivan left out the barest hint of a breathy laugh as he handed his daughter and niece their letters. “Well, it would appear that we’ll all be heading to Illyuz Ultisa for your supplies.”


End file.
